Wheel Accuracy = Greater Speed!

When you purchase new tires for your automobile, just after mounting the tires on the rim the mechanic balances the tires by adding weights at strategic location. Why is this done? Because the weight of the wheels is not perfectly distributed. If the wheels are not balanced, the tires will not spin true, leading to a rough ride and premature tire wear.

Similarly, the weight of your pinewood derby wheels is not perfectly distributed, so the wheels must be balanced. This is done not by adding weight, but instead by removing weight at strategic locations.

The Precision Wheel Balancer1 is a machined instrument that will improve the speed of your pinewood derby car by identifying the heavy side of your pinewood derby wheels so that the excess weight can be removed. This results in a perfectly balanced wheel that will spin true.

Applicability

The Precision Wheel Balancer is intended for use on wheels with a smaller bore such as those from BSA, MV, PineCar, Awana, etc. It is not intended for use on wheels with a large bore such as those from Royal Rangers and S&W.

The Precision Wheel Balancer is most effective on non-lathed wheels, or non-precision lathed wheels. For precision-lathed wheels, such as those we offer, the balancer will allow you to make subtle adjustments on some of the wheels.

To use the Precision Wheel Balancer, follow the instructions below. Click on any of the small pictures to view a larger picture.

Remove the wheel and use sandpaper or a sharp knife (scrape, donít carve) to remove a small amount of plastic from the heavy side. Note that the heavy side is the opposite side from the mark on the wheel. Remove plastic from inside the wheel, not from the tread surface.

Place the wheel back on the tool and retest. If you remove too much weight, the heavy side will move. Continue until the wheel stays stationary in any position.

Important Notes

The magnets on the tool are very strong and should not be placed within 2 feet of items that are affected by magnetic fields. These include credit cards, magnetic tapes, televisions, computer monitors, etc.

The ends of the pin have a small, smooth radius. When balancing, try not to let the strong magnetic field grab the pin out of your fingers and onto a magnet. This may damage the ends of the pin which will reduce the efficiency of the tool.

If the performance of the tool declines, repair the ends of the pin with 600 grit sandpaper (wet), followed by a fine hone stone. The ends should be sharp with a slightly rounded tip.

When the pin and wheel are placed between the balancer magnets, you may notice that one magnet works better than the other. Try both sides (right or left magnet) to get the best performance.